ED209
[Purist]
7307
Thoughts on the Breguet Reine de Naples Princesse
Valentine's Day is approaching very soon and I've been thinking about a nice gift for my wife. One of the watches that she's considering is the Breguet Reine de Naples Princesse 8968BR. The Reine de Naples collection for women has a egg shaped case that was inspired by a bracelet watch that Abraham Louis Breguet created for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples. Most of the Reine de Naples line are luxuriously appointed with precious stones and seemed to me to be more for formal wear. Breguet watches like the Reine de Naples Anniversary Edition with the striking mechanism is amazing to handle and see in person, but too much of a jewelry piece for daily wear. I believe Breguet has recognized this as well, and earlier this year introduced the new Princesse model.
The Breguet Reine de Naples Princesse 8968BR has the signature egg shaped case and off centered dial like the other watches in this collection. The dial is 18 carat gold and silvered with a anthracite color brushed finish. Large Roman numerals the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock in gold are curved to match the dial and case. The hour and minutes are Breguet open-tipped hands in rose gold. They look delicate but to me was a little hard to read because it didn't have that much contrast against the dial. Breguet does offer a completely silvered dial which gives it a brighter look, but between the two I like the anthracite version as I feel that it matches nicer with the pink gold case. And about the case, it does have the signature fluted caseband around the watch. The case is also curved and makes the large size more comfortable for fit on the wrist.
I love the pink gold crown, it was easy to operate and it has a beautiful inverted diamond set into it.
One of my wife's requirements for a watch is 'bling' and the Princesse has the rose gold strap lug set with 16 brilliant cut diamonds weighing approximately .15 carats. This ball shaped diamond adorned lug is only on the bottom of the watch case.
One of my requirements was having a mechanical movement, and the Princesse has a Breguet caliber 591C in-house self-winding movement. The 591C provides only 38 hours of power reserve. The escapement is silicon and also has a silicon balance spring. The movement is visible with the circular transparent window on the pink gold case back. The Breguet oscillating weight is made in rose gold and has a guilloched pattern. The bridges and plates have Geneva stripes.
The black leather strap pairs nicely with the rose gold case. One detail that I haven't really seen mentioned before is the buckle. The pin-type buckle is made in matching pink gold and set with 30 brillant cut diamonds surrounding the Breguet 'B' script logo. Looks beautiful and is a great detail that enhances the elegance of the Princesse.
There's a lot of nice features on the Breguet Reine de Naples Princesse watch. The signature shape, the precious stones and the mechanical movement are definitely positives. But one that thing that was concerning is the overall case size. It measures 43mm long and 35mm wide, and seems to me a little bit masculine in size. It's much large than other Reine de Naples models that are smaller at approximately 36mm long and 28mm wide. But I guess it's the same size as the stainless steel 8967ST model with the mother of pearl dial.
So what do you think? Does the features outweigh the size, or do you think it will look great on a woman's wrist? Maybe the larger size is fine since it will be more of a casual daily watch? I'm interested in hearing the opinions by fellow PuristS.
Regards,
ED-209
This message has been edited by ED209 on 2015-01-31 21:00:59
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